This invention is directed to a beverage powder and process for making it. More specifically, the present invention relates to malted beverage powder and process for manufacturing such beverage powder.
Malted beverage powders are well known. For example, malted beverage powders are commercially available under the trademarks MILO(copyright) and NESTOMALT(copyright). These beverage powders are reconstituted by adding hot or cold liquid such as milk or water into the powder. Thus, they should ideally be readily soluble in hot or cold liquids.
Malted beverage powders are usually prepared by mixing malt extracts or concentrates with various dry ingredients such as a protein source in the form of milk powder, egg proteins, or soya concentrates; sugars; flavoring agents such as cocoa; carbohydrate such as modified or hydrolysed cereals; and vitamins, minerals, fats, oils, water and the like. Typically, water is added to reduce the viscosity of the mixture. The mixture is dried, usually by vacuum drying, and then comminuted to powder. The main disadvantage of this conventional process is that considerable amounts of water need to be added during mixing. This means substantial amounts of water also have to be removed during the drying step. This significantly increases the cost of manufacturing beverage powders.
One attempt at providing a process with reduced energy consumption is described in the PCT patent application WO 93/07769. In this patent application, a cereal containing less than 40% by weight moisture is cooked in an extruder under severe conditions. The severe conditions were considered necessary to solubilize xcex1-glucans in the cereal so that the ultimate product is sufficiently soluble in water. The extrudate leaving the extruder has a moisture content of about 5 to 8% by weight which may then be further dried to desired levels. Consequently, a maximum of only about 5% moisture needs to be removed which represents a considerable economic savings over the conventional processes described above.
A disadvantage of the process described in above patent application is that it is quite difficult to achieve a flavor profile and texture identical or comparable to those of beverage powders obtained using conventional processes. This is tacitly acknowledged in the PCT patent application in which it mentions that the products have xe2x80x9cnew and interesting flavoursxe2x80x9d. Many consumers immediately notice and usually react unfavorably toward an altered, particularly if unexpected, flavor or texture of a beverage powder. Thus, while it is useful to be able to provide new flavors and textures, there is a need for an energy-saving process that also allows the manufacture of a product that has a flavor and texture that closely mimics those of a conventionally prepared product. The present invention provides such process as well as a product produced by such process.
The present invention resolves the problems of the prior art by providing a process that has a reduced energy requirement and that gives rise to a product having characteristics comparable to those which are made by a conventional process. The process comprises wet mixing liquid beverage ingredients and a first portion of dry malted beverage ingredient to provide a wet mixture having a moisture content of about 20% or less, vacuum drying the wet mixture to provide a dry cake, comminuting the dry cake to a base powder, and dry mixing the base powder with a Second portion of dry malted beverage ingredients to yield a malted beverage powder. Preferably, the second portion of the dry malted beverage ingredients comprises powdered whole or skimmed milk and powdered cocoa solids.
Surprisingly, the process produces a malted beverage powder that has a taste profile closely resembling that of conventional beverage powders. Also, the process is able to produce beverage powders having an appearance, texture and density similar to those of conventional beverage powders. Further, the process allows a lower drying requirement per unit weight of the product, thereby increasing production capacity and reducing energy consumption.
The present invention also provides a malted beverage powder which comprises: a base powder of substantially homogeneous particles comprising malt, milk solids, sugar, and cocoa and/or other carbohydrates powder; and a supplementary powder in the form of a dry mixture comprising milk powder, cocoa powder and/or other carbohydrate powder. The malted beverage powder possesses a substantially homogeneous color.
A homogeneous brown color is obtained if the malt beverage powder contains cocoa. Without cocoa, the malt beverage powder acquires a homogeneous color ranging from beige to golden yellow.
Both dry and liquid ingredients are required to produce the malted beverage powder of the present invention. The dry beverage ingredients may be varied according to local tastes and recipes. Generally, the dry beverage ingredients comprise one or more powdered protein source such as milk powder, skim milk powder, egg protein powder, vegetable or grain protein isolates such as soya protein isolates; artificial or natural sweeteners such as sucrose, fructose, or glucose; malt powders; hydrolysed cereal powders; starch powders; other carbohydrate powders; vitamins and minerals; cocoa powders; and powdered flavoring agents. The exact amount of each dry beverage ingredient may vary widely depending on the specific recipe used. Some of the ingredients may be omitted entirely.
The liquid beverage ingredients may also be chosen based on local tastes and preferences. Generally, these liquid beverage ingredients include one or more of fats and oils such as vegetable fats including palm oils and palm fats, and animal fats such as butter fats. The liquid beverage ingredients also preferably include liquid malt extracts, liquid sweeteners such as honey and glucose syrup, liquid protein sources such as vegetable protein concentrates, and the like. As with the dry beverage ingredients, the exact amount of each liquid beverage ingredient may also vary widely according to local recipes and some of the liquid beverage ingredients may be omitted entirely.
The make up and specifications of the above ingredients are not critical to the process of the present invention. If a malted beverage powder is already produced by a conventional process, it is preferable to use in the process of the present invention as many ingredients as are used in the former. This makes it easier to achieve the same flavor profile, if desired.
The liquid beverage ingredients and a portion of the dry beverage ingredients are fed into a wet mixer in which the liquid and dry ingredients are thoroughly and homogeneously mixed. The wet mixer may be any suitable mixer for mixing ingredients having a low moisture content, for example, below about 20% by weight. Suitable mixers include ribbon blenders, continuous mixers and extruders. The mixture comprising the liquid beverage ingredients and dry beverage ingredients preferably has a solids content of at least about 80% by weight, more preferably between about 85% to about 90% by weight. Although most of the dry ingredients contain small amounts of moisture, the primary source of moisture in the mixture of the present invention is liquid malt extract and water. Most commercial liquid malt extracts contain between 15 to 30% water by weight. Water is normally added to the wet mixer to reduce the viscosity of the mix to a pumpable level.
The mixture is then transferred to a suitable vacuum drier which is able to handle extremely viscous mixtures. Vacuum band driers are particularly preferred. Conventional vacuum band driers are particularly suitable. Using a vacuum drier, the mixture is dried to a cake. Typical vacuum drying conditions may be used, for example, temperatures ranging from about 120xc2x0 C. to about 160xc2x0 C. and pressures ranging from about 0 bar to about 100 mbar, preferably from about 20 mbar to about 50 mbar. The cake which is about to leave the vacuum drier may be cooled before leaving the drier. Alternatively it may be cooled after leaving the drier.
The cake is then comminuted using one or more crushers or mills as necessary. The base powder obtained preferably comprises less than about 4% by weight of moisture and preferably has a density of about 500 grams/liter to about 700 grams/liter.
A second portion of the dry beverage ingredients is then mixed with the base powder to provide the malted beverage powder. The second portion is preferably made up of a mixture of powdered milk (skimmed or whole) and powdered cocoa solids. Before mixing with the base powder, the second portion of dry malt beverage ingredients are preferably heated to remove unwanted aroma and sprayed with mediates such as water or oil and emulsifier in an amount sufficient to produce the desired color. Advantageously, before being mixed with the base powder, the second portion of dry malt beverage ingredients are prepared by heating between about 40xc2x0 C. to 80xc2x0 C. for about 5 minutes to about 30 minutes and sprayed with mediates such as water or oil and emulsifier. Preferably, the mediates represent up to about 4% by weight and typically between about 0.1 and 4% by weight of the second portion of dry malt beverage ingredients. The base powder preferably comprises about 70% to about 90% by weight of the malted beverage powder.
The first portion of the dry beverage ingredients may make up about 20% to about 70% by weight of the dry weight of all ingredients. Preferably, the first portion of the dry beverage ingredients makes up about 35% to about 50% by weight of the dry weight of all ingredients. The second portion of the dry beverage ingredients makes up about 10% to about 30% by weight of the dry weight of all ingredients. Preferably, the second portion of the dry beverage ingredients makes up about 15% to about 25% by weight of the dry weight of all ingredients. Preferably the weight ratio of milk powder to cocoa powder in the second portion is about 1:0 to about 0:1, more preferably about 1:0.6 to about 1:1.
The malted beverage powder preferably comprises less than about 4% by weight of moisture, for example, about 2% to about 3% by weight. The malted beverage powder preferably has a density of about 500 grams/liter to about 700 grams/liter. For malted beverage powders containing cocoa, the malted beverage powder preferably has a substantially homogeneous brown color despite the presence of the milk powder. The particle size of the malted beverage powder is preferably less than about 2 mm although the size distribution may be wide. The malted beverage powder may then be filled using various types of containers and packages such as aluminum pouches or cans.
The malted beverage powder prepared according to the process of the present invention has a flavor profile and texture that are quite similar to those of conventionally prepared malted beverage powders. Preferably, the malted beverage powder of the present invention also has an appearance or density that are comparable to those of conventionally produced malted beverage powders. By xe2x80x9csimilarxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccomparablexe2x80x9d, it is meant that the characteristics of the malted beverage powder of the present invention are such that its dominant flavor profile or texture, for example, corresponds to that of a conventionally prepared malted beverage powder. The use of both terms is also intended to encompass situations wherein the characteristics of the product of the present invention are substantially identical or indistinguishable from those of conventionally prepared malted beverage powders.